Abstract
South Korea is a developed country that first achieved a miracle under a state-led model but then failed in sustaining that performance. In this chapter, the country’s G&D performance has been examined mainly in four periods: 1961–1979, 1980–1996, 1997–2007, and 2008–2015. Using the analytic frame suggested in Chap. 1, this chapter concludes that the root cause of the South Korea’s impressive and faltering performance of G&D in the first and the subsequent two periods, respectively, has been the establishment of an intrinsic model of systemic governance and the fragmentation of its institutional complementarities, respectively. And this process of fragmentation throughout nearly three decades has ended up with an institutional trap in the last period.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ahrens, J. (2002). Governance and Economic Development: A Comparative Institutional Approach. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Bae, J. (2001). Incentive Structure and Its Changes in the Korean Industrial Policy Regimes from 1962–1997. The Journal of the Korean Economy, 2(2), 297–331.
Bank of Korea (BOK). (2013). Monetary Policy in Korea. Seoul: BOK.
Bank of Korea (BOK). (2016). The Korean Economy. Seoul: BOK.
Chaibong, H. (2008). South Korea’s Miraculous Democracy. Journal of Democracy, 19(3), 128–142.
Chang, H. (1996). The Political Economy of Industrial Policy. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Chang, S. (2003). Financial Crisis and Transformation of Korean Business Groups. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chang, H., Park, H., & Yoo, C. G. (2001). Interpreting the Korean Crisis: Financial Liberalization, Industrial Policy and Corporate Governance. In H. Chang, G. Palma, & D. H. Whittaker (Eds.), Financial Liberalization and the Asian Crisis (pp. 140–155). Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Cheery, J. (2005). Big Deal or Big Disappointment? The Continuing Evolution of the South Korean Developmental State. Pacific Review, 18(3), 327–354.
Cho, D. (2015). Growth, Crisis and the Korean Economy. Oxon: Routledge.
Chung, S., & Shu, J. (2007). Harnessing the Potential of Science and Technology. In J. Suh & D. H. Chen (Eds.), Korea as a Knowledge Economy (pp. 135–166). Washington, DC: The World Bank.
Claessens, S., Djankov, S., & Lang, L. (2000). The Separation of Ownership and Control in East Asian Corporations. Journal of Financial Economics, 58, 81–112.
Delury, G. E., & Kaple, D. A. (2006). World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties. New York: Facts and File.
Di Maio, M. (2009). Industrial Policies in Developing Countries: History and Perspectives. In M. Cimoli, G. Dosi, & J. E. Stiglitz (Eds.), Industrial Policy and Development: The Political Economy of Capabilities Accumulation (pp. 108–138). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eichengreen, B., Perkings, D. H., & Shin, K. (2012). From Miracle to Maturity: The Growth of the Korean Economy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Fan, J. P. H., & Wong, T. J. (2005). Do External Auditors Perform a Corporate Governance Role in Emergence Markets? Evidence from East Asia. Journal of Accounting Research, 43(1), 35–72.
Fischer, S. (1998). The Asian Crisis: A View from the IMF. Journal of International Financial Management and Accounting, 9(2), 167–176.
Fleckenstein, T., & Lee, S. C. (2017). The Politics of Labor Market Reform in Coordinated Welfare Capitalism. World Politics, 69(1), 144–183.
Haggard, S., & Moon, J. (1990). Institutions and Economic Policy: Theory and a Korean Case Study. World Politics, 42(2), 210–237.
Haggard, S., & Moon, J. (2000). The Political Economy of the Korean Financial Crisis. Review of International Political Economy, 78(2), 197–218.
Hellman, O. (2014). Party System Institutionalization Without Parties: Evidence from Korea. Journal of East Asian Studies, 14, 53–84.
Hemmert, M. (2012). Tiger Management: Korean Companies on World Markets. London: Routledge.
Hundt, D. (2009). Korea’s Developmental Alliance. London: Routledge.
IMF. (2017). Financial Statistics. Retrieved July 5, 2017, from http://data.imf.org/?sk=5477AD05-460D-4C91-9690-11E99B1ED935&sId=1390030341854
Jung, Y. (2014). Institutional Presidency and National Development. In H. Kwon & M. G. Koo (Eds.), The Korean Government and Public Policies in Development Nexus (pp. 11–29). Heidelberg: Springer.
Jung, J. (2015). Financial Liberalization and Institutional Incompatibility: The Unresolved Dilemma of the Korean Economy. Politics, 35(1), 46–57.
Kang, D. C. (2002). Bad Loans to Good Friends: Money Politics and the Developmental State in South Korea. International Organization, 56(1), 177–207.
Kang, N. (2010). Globalization and Institutional Change in the State-Led Model: The Case of Corporate Governance in South Korea. New Political Economy, 15(4), 519–542.
Kim, L. (1993). National System of Industrial Innovation: Dynamics of Capability Building in Korea. In R. Nelson (Ed.), National Innovation Systems: A Comparative Analysis (pp. 357–383). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kim, E. M. (2010a). Limits of the Authoritarian Developmental State of South Korea. In O. Edighejl (Ed.), Constructing a Democratic Developmental State in South Africa (pp. 97–125). Cape Town: HCR Press.
Kim, E. M., & Park, G. S. (2011). The Chaebol. In B. K. Kim & E. Vogel (Eds.), The Park Chung-Hee Era: The Transformation of South Korea (pp. 265–294). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kim, S., & Yang, D. (2011). Managing Capital Flows: The Case of the Republic of Korea. In M. Kawai & M. B. Lamberte (Eds.), Managing Capital Flows: The Search for a Framework (pp. 280–304). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Kim, Y. (2010b). Institutions of Interest Representation and the Welfare State in Post-Democratization Korea. Asian Perspective, 34(1), 159–189.
Kong, T. Y. (2012). Neoliberal Restructuring in South Korea Before and After the Crisis. In C. Kyung-Sup, B. Fine, & L. Weiss (Eds.), Developmental Politics in Transition: Neoliberal Era and Beyond (pp. 235–253). Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Kong, T. Y. (2013). Between Late-Industrialization and Globalization: The Hybridization of Labour Relations Among Leading South Korean Firms. New Political Economy, 18(5), 625–652.
Koo, A. (2013). Evolution of Industrial Policies and Economic Growth in Korea: Challenges, Crises and Responses. European Review of Industrial Economics and Policy, 7, 1–18.
Korea Labor Institute. (2017). Labor Statistics Archive. Retrieved April 15, 2017, from https://www.kli.re.kr/kli_eng/selectBbsNttList.do?bbsNo=35&key=381
Larson, J. F., & Park, J. (2014). From Developmental to Network State: Government Restructuring and ICT-Led Innovation in Korea. Telecommunications Policy, 38, 344–359.
Lee, C. H. (1992). The Government, Financial System, and Large Private Enterprises in the Economic Development in South Korea. World Development, 20(2), 187–197.
Lee, Y. (2000). The Failure of the Weak State in Economic Liberalization: Liberalization, Democratization and the Financial Crisis in South Korea. The Pacific Review, 13(1), 115–131.
Lee, W., & Lee, B. (2003). Korean Industrial Relations in the Era of Globalization. Journal of Industrial Relations, 45(4), 505–520.
Lee, C. H., Lee, K., & Lee, K. (2002). Chaebols, Financial Liberalization and Economic Crisis: Transformation of Quasi-Internal Organization in Korea. Asian Economic Journal, 16(1), 17–35.
McKay, J. (2003). The Restructuring of the Korean Economy Since 1986 and the Onset of the Financial Crisis. In M. Tcha & C. Shu (Eds.), The Korean Economy at the Crossroads (pp. 69–83). London: Routledge.
Mo, J., & Weingast, B. R. (2013). Korean Political and Economic Development: Crisis, Security, and Institutional Rebalancing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
OECD. (2000). Pushing Ahead with Reform in Korea: Labour Market and Social Safety Net. Paris: OECD.
OECD. (2010). Learning for Jobs. Paris: OECD.
OECD. (2016). OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook, Country Profile. Korea, Paris: OECD.
OECD. (2017). OECD Statistical Extracts. Retrieved June 8, 2017, from http://stats.oecd.org/
Park, C. H. (2012). South Korea. In T. Inoguchi & J. Blondel (Eds.), Political Parties and Democracy: Contemporary Western Europe and Asia (pp. 127–142). Palgrave: Basingstoke.
Park, S., & Koo, Y. (2013). Innovation-Driven Cluster Development Strategies in Korea. European Review of Industrial Economics and Policy, 5, 1–17.
Peng, I., & Wong, J. (2008). Institutions and Institutional Purpose: Continuity and Change in East Asian Social Policy. Politics & Society, 26(1), 61–88.
Pirie, I. (2005). The Korean State. New Political Economy, 10(1), 25–42.
Pirie, I. (2015). Korea and the Global Economic Crisis. The Pacific Review, 29(5), 671–692.
Schüller, M., Conlé, M., & Shim, D. (2012). Korean Innovation Governance Under Lee Myung-Bak—A Critical Analysis of Governmental Actors’ New Division of Labour. In J. Mahlich & W. Pascha (Eds.), Korean Science and Technology in an International Perspective (pp. 109–128). Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.
Shin, J. (2014). The Global Financial Crisis and the Korean Economy. London: Routledge.
Shin, J., & Chang, H. (2003). Restructuring Korea Inc. London: Routledge.
Shin, J., & Chang, H. (2005). Economic Reform After the Financial Crisis: A Critical Assessment of Institutional Transition and Transition Costs in South Korea. Review of International Political Economy, 12(3), 409–433.
Song, B. N. (1990). The Rise of the Korean Economy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Tsutsumi, M. Jones, R. S., & Cargill, T. F. (2010). The Korean Financial System: Overcoming the Global Financial Crisis and Addressing Remaining Problems. OECD Economics Department Working Papers 796, OECD, Paris.
Uttam, J. (2012). Korea’s New Techno-Scientific Strategy: Realigning State, Market and Society. In J. Mahlich & W. Pascha (Eds.), Korean Science and Technology in International Perspective (pp. 41–62). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
Wade, R. (1998). The Asian Debt-and-Development Crisis of 1997-?: Causes and Consequences. World Development, 26(8), 1535–1553.
Witt, M. A. (2014). South Korea: Plutocratic State-Led Capitalism Reconfiguring. In M. Witt & G. Redding (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Asian Business Systems (pp. 216–237). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Woo, J. (1991). Race to the Swift: State and Finance in Korean Industrialization. New York: Columbia University Press.
World Bank. (2017). World Development Indicators. Retrieved July 13, 2017, from http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=world-development-indicators
Yang, J. (2010). Korean Social Concertation at the Crossroads: Consolidation and Deterioration? Asian Survey, 50(3), 449–473.
Yang, J. (2013). Parochial Welfare Politics and the Small: Welfare State in South Korea. Comparative Politics, 45(4), 457–475.
Yim, S. D. (2005). Korea’s National Innovation System and Science and Technology Policy. Seoul: Science and Technology Policy Institute.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Akan, T. (2018). Rise and Fall of the State-Led Model: South Korea. In: The Complementary Roots of Growth and Development. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68932-6_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68932-6_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68931-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68932-6
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)